News

Mansour Osanlou, the leader of Tehran's municipal bus service union,
was reportedly assaulted by an inmate in an Iranian prison, RFE/RL's
Radio Farda reports.

The trade unionist was not injured in the
attack, which occurred at Gohardasht prison in Karaj, west of Tehran,
on February 22. Osanlou was arrested in July 2007 after being abducted
on the street by security forces.

He is serving a five-year
prison term for what authorities say was acting against "national
security." He had been detained several times between 2005-2007.

Canadian-based
labor activist Mehdi Kouhestaninejad told RFE/RL that Osanlou has been
persecuted in prison by fellow inmates on several occasions.

But he said prison guards "turn a blind eye to these incidents and no committee is assigned to investigate them."

Kouhestaninejad
added that authorities are trying to intimidate labor activists by
arresting, detaining, and firing them. In recent weeks Iranian trade
unions have issued statements condemning the crackdown on labor
activists and demanding their release from prison.

The crackdown
follows labor protests throughout the country in recent months, many
focused on the problem of many months of unpaid salaries.